The rebirth of the Theatre Guild Playhouse — the cradle which gave life and nurtured a long list of excellent dramatists and for a very long time carried the mantle of Guyanese drama, is indeed one of the most monumental, refreshing and positive developments of our society.

In fact, we should have never allowed this monument of Guyanese drama to have deteriorated to the dilapidated and neglected state in which it existed for decades, and to take so long to reverse this unhealthy development. But we can take some solace in the old adage that goes: “Better late than never.”

The organisers and supporters of the restoration of perhaps Guyana’s best house of drama must be commended for their quiet but persistent efforts to restore what is definitely one of our national prides. It is another demonstration of the progressive nature of our society, despite the many in our midst who only attempt to paint a negative and gloomy picture of our beautiful country.

The financial support for the project by our corporate citizens and the government is most encouraging and amply demonstrates that we still have citizens, organisations and individuals who have pride in our national institutions.

Chairman of the Guild, and one of those excellent dramatist who came out of the womb of Theatre Guild, Russell Lancaster was dead on target when he declared at the re-opening of the playhouse that the restoration is a dream come true and the beginning of a cultural renaissance. Indeed, Guyana badly needs such a beginning.

And very pertinent is that the restoration project has fructified in time for the hosting of CARIFESTA X, and in fact will be one of the venues for the hosting of the Caribbean’s premiere cultural event.

It is indisputable that cultural development is inextricably linked to socio-economic development and therefore must be never treated as the “Cinderella” sector. The evidence to support this is clear before us if we analyse all those countries that have made tremendous industrial and socio-economic strides, cultural development was and is an integral component of their overall development. Culture perhaps defines the national identity of any country more than socio-economic achievements.

In this context, the Theatre Guild could become a stimulus in rekindling the process of cultural advancement which is essential to help reverse the unfortunate degradation of our cultural landscape.

Plato in the Republic sums it up beautifully when he said:

“The first thing our artist must do — and it’s not easy — is to take human society and human habits and wipe them clean out, to give himself a clean canvas. For our philosophic artist differs from all others in being unwilling to start work on an individual or a city, or draw out laws, until he is given, or has made himself, a clean canvas.”

He adds:”… the only difference between men and women is one of physical function — one begets, the other bears children. Apart from that, they both can and should perform the same functions (though men on a whole, perform them better) and should receive the same education to enable them to do so; for in this way society will get the best value from both. And once we have given our community a good start, the process will be cumulative. By maintaining a sound system of education you produce citizens of good character, and citizens of sound character, with the advantage of a good education, produce in turn children better than themselves and better able to produce still better children in their turn, as can be seen with animals.

‘We are like people looking for something they have in their hands all the time; we’re looking in all directions except at the thing we want, which is probably why we haven’t found it.’

‘That is the story. Do you think there is any way of making them believe it?’

‘Not in the first generation’, he said, ‘but you might succeed with the second and later generations.’

‘We will ask the critics to be serious for once, and remind them that it was not so long ago that the Greeks thought — as most of the barbarians still think — that it was shocking and ridiculous for men to be seen naked. When the Cretans, and later the Spartans, first began to take exercise naked, wasn’t there plenty of material for the wit of the comedians of the day?’

‘There was indeed’

‘But when experience showed them that it was better to strip than wrap themselves up, what reason had proved best ceased to look absurd to the eye. Which shows how idle it is to think anything ridiculous except what is wrong.’

‘It is not only to the poets therefore that we must issue orders requiring them to represent good character in their poems or not to write at all; we must issue similar orders to all artists and prevent them from portraying bad character, ill discipline, meanness, or ugliness in painting, sculpture, architecture, or any work of art, and if they are unable to comply they must be forbidden to practice their art. We shall thus prevent our guardians being brought up among representations of what is evil, and so day by day and little by little, by feeding as it were in an unhealthy pasture, insensibly doing themselves grave psychological damage. Our artists and craftsmen must be capable of perceiving the real nature of what is beautiful, and then our young men, living as it were in a good climate, will benefit because all the works of art they see and hear influence them for good, like the breezes from some healthy country with what is rational and right.’

‘That would indeed be the best way to bring them up.’

‘And that, my dear Glaucon,’ I said,’ is why this stage of education is crucial. For rhythm and harmony penetrate deeply into the mind and have a most powerful effect on it, and if education is good, bring balance and fairness, if it is bad, the reverse.’